Bradford City boss Graham Alexander on Mark Trueman's absence from the bench and new tactical role

Trueman took caretaker charge of Bradford City after Kevin McDonald's decision to concentrate on playing, with Alexander having stated he would be relying on the input of all existing staff during his tenure.

Trueman was deployed as a tactical observer in the stands in the Barrow match.

It's a role that Alexander places a great deal of importance in.

Alexander said: "Me and Chris (Lucketti - assistant) felt we missed somebody up there to relay information that we might miss.

"Certainly on the other side of the pitch where it's really hard to see. So we asked him as he'd been so integral in three days of training and knew exactly what wanted from certain positions.

"I asked him to keep an eye on things and to let us know if it wasn't happening so we could get the message on rather than wait until half-time.

"I think it's a really valuable tool as a manager to have someone with a bird's eye view of it."

Meanwhile, Alexander has said that supporters can expect the sight of more players being adaptable in the weeks and months ahead after switching Alex Gilliead to left-back last weekend after Ciaran Kelly and Daniel Oyegoke both came off.

After being told by goalkeeping coach Colin Doyle that Gilliead had featured there before, Alexander made the switch with player flexibility being something that he is big on.

Alexander, converted from a full-back to a deep-lying midfielder late on in his playing career, said: "We have had loads of players over the years where we have changed their position.

"We have tried to take the number off the back of playing and look at what players' attributes are and then how they fit in our team.”